Chapter 27

Pursuit of Parallel Happiness

The fresh air invaded my senses the moment I landed on a soft patch that cushioned my fall. While I took another minute let my eyes recover, I could hear giggles and chuckles from my surroundings.

 

Grass?

 

I could feel the wetness on my palms.

 

Gross.

 

I quickly stood up and patted my hands off my jeans to get rid of the grass sticking to my .

 

Gosh, when was the last time I have been to a park? I wondered to myself.

 

I frowned at that thought. How could I forget? The place where we arranged to meet but never got to. The place I avoided like a plague since then. It didn’t help that the accident occurred just outside a park.

 

Sighing, I scanned my surroundings for a better grasp of my exact location.

 

Hmm, this place looks familiar.

 

The park felt like déjà vu. It seems awfully familiar but I couldn’t put a finger on. No, it wasn’t the same park Taeyeon and I arranged to meet but I definitely have been here before. Or so it seemed.

 

Perhaps I should look out for Taeyeon or myself. I thought. It wasn’t hard to realize that somehow, I manage to land somewhere near either Taeyeon or myself every time I travelled.

 

However, all I see was a group of rowdy kids playing catch amongst the semi-packed park. A smile crept up my face when a distant memory hit me. The way they played the game was a cue to that specific memory. It was an amusing version of never ending catch, where stepping on each other’s shadow constitute the catch. I wasn’t sure who came up with the idea since everyone just joined in as they came, not caring if they even knew everyone in the game.

 

I vaguely remember the rules, which are simple – catch someone and the person is out of the game while you get to choose someone caught to be back into the game so there’s no win for the game, really. Kids being kids, the rules were soon forgotten and all they cared about is chasing each other mindlessly. It was quite the highlight of my visiting trips back to Korea when I was young, before my family finally decided to move back for good.

 

Another sigh escaped me as I remembered my objective for this trip. I was about to head  towards the news stand to check on the date when I spotted a, yet again, familiar looking face.

 

It was a kid, aged 5? 6?

 

She was crouching slightly as she cautiously moved from tree to tree, probably hiding from some other kids.

 

Taeyeon?! I gasped. It wasn’t that hard to recognize her younger self. She still had that signature innocent looking eyes accompanied by that blank look.

 

Amused, I followed her line of sight and saw another girl squatting at the sidelines drawing imaginary circles on the ground.

 

Hmm, that girl looks familiar too. I couldn’t tell who the girl is, as her back was facing me. I wondered what the girl had to attract Taeyeon’s attention.

 

Turning my attention back to Taeyeon, I noticed another signature expression – her annoying grin. Normally one which ends up me being teased or pranked on.

 

Gosh, she’s not thinking about bullying that poor girl, is she? Who is that girl anyway?

 

To my surprise, instead of approaching the girl, Taeyeon back tracked her steps and moved further away from the girl. Curious, I followed Taeyeon and saw her eyeing a boy.

 

Feeling a little jealous, I narrowed my eyes at young Taeyeon.

 

Gosh, what am I thinking, being jealous over a kid?!

 

However, I spotted that grin on her face again and suddenly, it hit me. Taeyeon is probably planning to save the squatting girl in the expense of that boy!

 

Hiding behind the park bench, Taeyeon waited patiently to ambush the unsuspecting boy as he approaches.

 

“Stepped! I’ve got you!” Taeyeon exclaimed excitedly as she jumped out of her hiding spot and planted her feet firmly on his shadow.

 

A similar grin crept up my face.

 

Wearing that accomplished look, Taeyeon skipped happily to back to the girl at the sidelines.

 

“Miyoung-ah! I caught that boy!” Taeyeon proudly announced with a wide grin and pointed at the sulking boy.

 

Omg! That’s me?! I gasped when I heard that name but the following thought was what shocked me.

 

We knew each other way before high school?! How come I don’t remember this?!

 

Wait, I do remember liking a playmate but everything else's a blur. My eyes widen at that thought.

 

This was when I saw the girl turned around and looked up towards to the boy Taeyeon was pointing at.

 

Wow, me indeed.

 

Tiffany pouted and frowned in response.

 

Probably expecting at least a smile for her heroic deed, I saw a confused on Taeyeon’s face. I felt like laughing at the absurd situation as I connected the dots. Young Tiffany probably thought Taeyeon had forgetten about her and went to play with that boy.

 

“Why?” Taeyeon asked innocently. “I caught him for you and you can come back to the game now. Don’t you like it?”

 

Hearing Taeyeon, Tiffany finally broke out a smile and jumped onto Taeyeon. “Really?”

 

Breaking the hug, Taeyeon gave Tiffany a silly grin as she nodded her head eagerly.

 

“Thanks! TaeTae is the best!” Tiffany exclaimed as she gave Taeyeon a peck on the lips.

 

Gosh! Since when I did that?! The feels… Wait, she is my… first kiss?!

 

Realizing what she did, I saw Tiffany shyly looked away while Taeyeon merely froze. Sensing the motionless Taeyeon, Tiffany quickly broke the awkward silence by stepping on Taeyeon’s shadow.

 

“Ha! GOTCHA!” Tiffany proclaimed victory and snapped Taeyeon out of her trance.

 

“YAH! How can you do this to me?!” Taeyeon pouted. “I just saved you!”

 

“Merong!” Tiffany playfully teased as she skipped away. “That’s for abandoning me just now.”

 

“Since when?” Taeyeon raised an eyebrow before letting out a playful grin. Without warning, she sprinted towards Tiffany.

 

“YAH! I caught you, you can’t come after me!” Tiffany shouted as she tried to dodge Taeyeon’s attempt to step on her shadow.

 

“Well, I don’t care!”

 

I found myself smiling widely at the sight.

 

Just then, while running away from Taeyoen, Tiffany suddenly crashed into someone and fell.

 

I cursed inwardly at whoever just disrupted my Taeny feels. One look and I knew, I am so going to exploit my adult advantages.

 

-

 

A/N:

First short update of the year. Sorry about the delay.

Well, for this chapter, I have to thank veeyuzuu who has kindly reminded me that taeny doesn't necessarily have to be a couple. So here's mini Taeny. It's gonna be a short dimension since they are just kids, so not much drama here.

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HolyCrab
From now onwards, its gonna be crazy updates till completion. =DDD

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Chapter 40: Yes! I love happy endings! I enjoyed this story very much! Really, better late than never reading this!
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Chapter 37: Yep, that was 2014...
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Chapter 36: Ah, this chapter... 🥲
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Chapter 34: Next!
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Chapter 32: What the?! 🤯
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Chapter 28: Cute!
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